Gilded Silver ‘Frog’ Ring, Akan People, Ghana, early-mid 20th century

Chief’s Gilded Silver ‘Frog’ Ring

This extravagant and wearable ring is of gilded (or gold-plated) silver. The bezel is in the shape of a crouching frog with large, languid eyes. The hoop is decorated with three bands of incised cross-hatching.

Such rings were worn by local Akan or Ashanti (Asante) chiefs and were intended to both dazzle and convey a message to the beholder. Frogs are a universal symbol of fertility and prosperity on account of their being linked to the west season and rainfall. And so it is likely that this ring was intended to suggest a linkage to crop planting rites and prosperity.

It is a fine piece of small sculpture. There is wear to the gold plating on the extremities as might be expected but otherwise is in fine, stable and wearable condition.